From 1642 to 1975, Sikkim was ruled by the Namgyal Monarchy (also called the Chogyal Monarchy), founded by Phuntsog Namgyal, the fifth-generation descendant of Guru Tashi, a prince of the Minyak House who came to Sikkim from the Kham province of Tibet.[3] Chogyal means 'righteous ruler', and was the title conferred upon Sikkim's Buddhist kings during the reign of the Namgyal Monarchy.[citation needed]
The reign of the Chogyal was foretold by the patron saint of Sikkim, Guru Rinpoche. The 8th-century saint had predicted the rule of the kings when he arrived in the state. In 1642, Phuntsog Namgyal was crowned as Sikkim's first Chogyal in Yuksom. The crowning of the king was a great event and he was crowned by three revered lamas who arrived there from three different directions, namely the north, west, and south.
(1893-10-26)26 October 1893 – 2 December 1963(1963-12-02) (aged 70)
5 December 1914
2 December 1963
Half-brother of Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal. The second longest-reigning Chogyal of Sikkim. Treaty between India and Sikkim was signed in 1950, giving India suzerainty over Sikkim.
Son of Tashi Namgyal. The last Chogyal of Sikkim. The country became a state of India, following the 1975 referendum.
Namgyal
Titular chogyals
The son from the first marriage of Palden Thondup Namgyal, Wangchuk Namgyal (Sikkimese: དབང་ཕྱུག་བསྟན་འཛིན་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་; born 1 April 1953), was named the 13th Chogyal after his father's death on 29 January 1982,[6] but the position no longer confers any official authority.
In Bhutan, "dharmaraja" or "Righteous King" is a title which was also conferred upon a special class of temporal and spiritual rulers. In Bhutan, the Chogyal were given the respectful title Zhabdrung. In this context, the Chogyal was a recognised reincarnation (or succession of reincarnations) of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the 17th century Tibetan-born founder of Bhutan. A position of supreme importance, the Bhutanese Chogyal was above both the highest monastic authority, the Je Khenpo, and the highest temporal ruler, the Deb Raja or Druk Desi.[7] There were two main lines of Zhabdrung incarnations in Bhutan.
